Beyonce's New Album Cover
 

Welp, Beyonce's no longer doing blackface (remember the only other thread I've ever created on Beyonce).

I think the new album cover looks nothing like her in terms of facial features and shade of skin. It is beyond the usual airbrushing and color shifting. Since coincidences and accidents tend not to happen for such things, I do believe this was intentionally done. But, intent can rarely be proven so I'll just go based on outcome. It is funny looking and convenient.

http://www.thegrio.com/assets_c/2011...auto-19250.jpg

http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment...-conundrum.php

What say you, GCers?

When I was reading about this, many people were saying things along the lines of "Her transformation into a white woman is complete."

It just looks like an extra-bright light to me *Kanye shrug*

DOH!

It looks like a super-bright, low-contrast photo to me--even the weird hairshirt she's wearing looks bleached out. If they were really trying to lighten her up, they'd have used other techniques.

That darn technology that sometimes makes people darker and lighter. It can't be stopped! Even for the biggest and wealthiest celebrity album covers. The world is definitely ending.

The first thought that popped into my head when I saw the cover was "Is that Shakira?"

I'm tempted to throw in a "Ditto" hear because this was my first thought. "She's just super washed out from the lighting." But it's a professional photo. They know how to not do that, but they did. Maybe a clever way of intentionally lightening her without looking blatantly intentional. Eh Phil?

Me too :cool:

That's what I thought too. Which is an interesting comparison because my linesister and I have had many conversations about how artists like Shakira and Beyonce have dyed their hair blonde and made themselves more racially ambiguous seemingly to attract a larger audience.

I couldn't help but see the irony in the movie Dreamgirls as Jamie Foxx moved Beyonce to be the lead singer when he realized that her lighter skin and less soulful voice got a better reaction from white audiences. It reminded me a lot of Destiny Child's journey.

But who knows, it may just be the lighting of photo shoot and some photographer's artistic vision.

I don't necessarily see this as Beyonce trying to look white, but she does seem to be playing with her image and sound, trying to be more edgy. Which is almost expected in the music business. Everyone from David Bowie to Madonna to Lady Gaga has altered or changed how they look in photo-shoots and music video's sooooo.... why can't Beyonce?

...why can't Beyonce what? She has changed her look a few times over the years. That isn't what this topic is about as far as I'm concerned.

David Bowie, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Grace Jones have all changed their looks a few times to be more edgy and androgynous (gender). Bowie, Madonna, and Lady Gaga didn't stop looking immediately identifiable as white and Grace Jones didn't stop looking immediately identifiable as Black. In fact, racial and ethnic minority performers are more likely than white performers to become more racially unidentifiable.


I agree.

;) You say all of that and end with "who knows...may just be the lighting...." That's how these dynamics persist in entertainment and other institutions. We can't prove it in most cases and there's just enough uncertainty to make people conclude with "who knows...I guess I'll move on."

It looks like a photo shoot with the bright lights. Even attempting a "photo shoot look" has the outcome of making some people wonder who she is and "what" she is. Surface-level racial and ethnic neutrality and comfort accomplished.

That's arguably what the duet they did together was expected to accomplish. They look alike and both of them are "racial and ethnic minority enough" to be "racial and ethnic minority" and "neutral enough" to be "neutral."

http://www.thegrio.com/assets_c/2011...auto-16884.png

That one looks more intentional than her album cover

Edit: this one too http://static.becomegorgeous.com/img...pping_legs.jpg

BUT LOOK AT THE OUTFIT. #gaymoment

I thought Ke$ha.

In this one she looks a little like a more normal Gaga. Weird.

But look at her promo photos which came out in December from her tour.

http://toyaz-world.net/wp-content/up...010/11/bey.jpg

http://www.mtvbase.com/gsp/images/Fl...tour-flyer.jpg

Her new album cover is purposely washed out. That's obvious. I think people are looking into "becoming white" too much.

And then there's the promo picture for her new single. Still golden brown:

http://streetdose.com/wp-content/upl...er-artwork.jpg

Folks are talking about her, and she'll be releasing the album soon. Even though it's just a washed out image, I suspect TPTB are happy with the extra coverage.

I don't recall anyone saying anything about "becoming white."

I absolutely love this photo. They did a great job with the background, outfit, and her overall look.

I see this more as appropriate lighting that can be interpreted as "golden brown" by some but not by everyone. They should get rid of the photo in my OP and use this photo. But, since they probably won't do that, I believe that they are advertising Beyonce just as they always have: "Black enough" but not "too Black." They've always done that with Beyonce's (and some other artists') makeup and airbrushing. It's simply the case that this time, more and more people are saying FAIL.

Of course they are happy. They knew what they were doing with the OP photo before they did it. They aren't shocked by the outcome.

I did in my first post. It was actually quoting others on various pop culture sites. Most of the comments that I've seen about this have been saying she's "turning into a white woman."

Oh booooo.

Which is exactly why I said it.

On Idol tonight she certain looked a lot lighter, but I don't know how much of that is the very blond hair.

I got my Clerks II movie poster in the mail and the first thing I thought of was this thread. A non-Beyonce example of the same phenomenon:

Rosario Dawson at the movie premiere:
http://0.tqn.com/d/movies/1/0/o/1/N/...premiere26.jpg

Rosario Dawson on the movie poster:
http://www.thejay.com/wp-content/clerks2poster.jpg

I noticed that she "changed colors" in the movie, too. It seemed she was more tan when she was the nerdy boss and, as she shifted to love interest," she seemed to get lighter (as well as several other changes to her appearance but that's another story).

^^ I didn't notice changes in the movie itself, but damn I love her and she just looks WEIRD in that poster.

In the beginning of the movie (when she's just the nerdy boss), her hair is messier and she's wearing her jacket, glasses, and minimal make-up. As she shifted to love interest, suddenly her face and hair are done, she's wearing less clothes, and her glasses disappeared. Even though the time lapse for the characters was only a couple of hours. And her complexion seemed to lighten as well IMO it's not as noticeable in pics as it is on video. I noticed it the first time I saw this, the more Dante realized he loved her, the "prettier" she got.

Beginning:
http://images1.fanpop.com/images/pho...9-1024-576.jpg

Mid-movie:
http://images1.fanpop.com/images/pho...9-1024-576.jpg

ETA: I adore her, too. She is so freaking cool. I'm still looking for a DVD fram so I can put my autographed DVD next to my RENT movie poster. :)

I think the dressing up was intentional in character (she's doing it on purpose), but I can't say whether any lighter skin tone was a result of the makeup or a different type of lighting on her.

I need to watch Clerks II again :)

I bought it on Amazon for 97 cents. It is easily my greatest online buy. :cool:

ETA: And I didn't see any indication that the character was changing her own level of dress-up-ish-ness. You never see her brush her hair, take off the uniform, etc. She just looks longingly at Dante and BOOM she's suddenly wearing make-up.

They did the "Jennifer Lopez/Angelina Jolie" to her. That's when people are "ethnic enough" to be "ethnic" when needed; and they are "neutral enough" (or "white enough") to play a racially neutral character that the mainstream (whites) will like without question.

On the opposite end: There's a similar dynamic for some Italians (and other "white" ethnic groups) and some whites who tan (I saw additional evidence of that last night at a party LOL).

http://static2.wonderwall.com/image/...5-original.jpg

The latest colorisms.

IIRC, this is from the same photo shoot as the image in the original post.

^^If the goal was racially ambiguous drag queen, they nailed it and then some. I seriously hate everything about this pic.

Yes, it is all from the album "4."

The media brought this up again either to distract from Blue Ivy or to make sure the public does not forget about Beyonce while she and Jay-Z begin parenting.

Add airbrush bellied to that mix.

Her arm looks like it's been (vertically) cut in half. I think some of that may be the way she's laying on it but it still looks weird.

Going through the pics, I just noticed something...does she own any clothes that don't show off her whole sternum? Really?